Manchester North West was one of six single-member Parliamentary constituencies created in 1885 by the division of the three-member Parliamentary Borough of Manchester under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. Its first MP, William Houldsworth, had previously sat for Manchester. It was abolished in 1918. Kemp resigned the seat in July 1912, ostensibly to concentrate on his business interests, but he was known to disagree with the Home Rule Bill (The Times).